WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2011 VOL. 20 NO. 72
Badillo indicted for latest home invasion BY MELISSA GRIMA
BERLIN, N.H.
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LANCASTER -- The Coos Grand Jury sat on July 15 and indicted half a dozen men on a variety of charges. Among them was Berlin’s Christhian Badillo, 29, who faces burglary and assault charges as the result of a May 28 home invasion in the city. Badillo had been previously scheduled for a probable cause hearing in Berlin District Court, which was postponed after his attorney, Joseph Garrison of the NH Public Defender’s offi ce, requested a competency evaluation and hearing. Badillo had been found not competent to stand trial earlier this year in an unrelated case, where he was accused of taking part in an armed home invasion in the city in November of 2009. One of his alleged accomplices was killed in that incident and Badillo was shot in the head. The victim of that home invasion was cleared of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting by the Attorney General’s office just last month. Due to the head injury sustained by Badillo,
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Council hears complaint about Francis Street property BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
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BERLIN -- For over three years the city battled in court to get Paul Croteau to clean up the junk vehicles he was storing at the former Rocket Snowmobile property on Jericho Road. At Monday’s city council meeting, a neighbor complained that Croteau is now running a junkyard and creating safety issues at his home on 6 Francis Street. Connie Richards told the council safety issues are a major concern for her. She said there is an immediate blind spot as you turn the corner on the street and the
road is narrow there. She said Croteau frequently has vehicles parked on both sides of the street obstructing the view and at times blocking her driveway as well as the fire hydrant. With the vehicles parked on both sides of the street, she said emergency vehicles would not be able to get through. Richards said she called police last Feb. 12 when the street and fire hydrant were blocked by an unregistered boat, a boat trailer, and two cars. She said the officer said he could not do anything because it was a private road. But City Manager Patrick MacQueen confirmed see COMPLAINT page 8
Randolph man protests property revaluations BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
RANDOLPH—Disturbed by inaccuracies in the revaluation of his summer cottage in Randolph, John Mudge has appealed to the N.H. Board of Tax and Land Appeals and compiled an extensive notebook to illustrate the inconsistencies and errors in the 2009 revaluations in Randolph, conducted by Avitar Associates of
New England. His hearing before the BTLA, John Mudge v. Town of Randolph, is scheduled for Nov. 6. Meanwhile, Mudge has released copies of his findings about Randolph property valuations, leaving one copy in the Randolph library for residents to read. The thick notebook includes, among other things,
see BADILLO page 13
see PROTESTS page 9
Diamond discussions continue in Gorham BY MELISSA GRIMA THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
GORHAM — Errant baseballs remained a hot topic in town as the school administration joined the talks with the selectmen at Monday night’s meeting at the town hall. In addition to selectmen hearing the school’s take on the situation, the talk yielded some brainstorming ideas that both sides agreed might be worth following up on. After touching on the issue of stray foul balls and the damage they cause at their last two meetings, the Gorham Selectmen welcomed the chance to speak directly with school officials regarding the matter. The high school baseball team plays their home games on the field at the town common. Superintendent Paul Bousquet and high school principal Keith Parent were both in attendance to address the issue of liability — or lack thereof — and responsibility. Bousquet explained to the board that although he knows it is frustrating to those whose property gets damaged by rogue balls, the RSAs are clear about not holding government responsible for damage to private property. RSA 507 and its sub-sections address the see DISCUSSIONS page 7
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Poet Esther Leiper of Jefferson reads some of her work at Saturday’s Book Fair at the Northern Forest Heritage Park. A good tur nout of writers and poets spent the morning attending workshops on writing conducted by well known New Hampshire writers. In the afternoon, theparticipants shared some of their original work. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO)
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